Exactly The Same
by Wh33tbread
Summary: Can anypony hear me? This is Special Operative Silver Lining reporting in from the outskirts of an unknown town. My coordinates are as follows: zero-five-zero by forty-five-niner. I repeat zero-five-zero by forty-five-niner. I request immediate backup. I repeat: requesting imm-
1. Day 1

I woke up with an aching head. No recollection of the events that led up to the cause of my unconsciousness. In fear of ensuing amnesia and loss of mind, I must assess my surroundings.

I found myself in this solitary room inside this place. The air smells of something rotten, however I cannot pinpoint the scent.

Looking out the window, I can see small houses, each exactly like the last. Across the street, I see what I can only perceive what looks like a perfect mirror image. Almost like a small town, a village of some sort – every house exactly the same as the one adjacent to it or across from it.

Now examining the structure that I'm in, it seems to be a small six-by-six shack. There is a wash basin in the southeast corner of this shack, along with a single bench along the opposite wall. No bed. There is a door, no doubt leading to that small village I mentioned earlier. Trying the door handle, I find it locked from the outside. No way out. How odd. Studying the curtains on the windows, I find them a dark-green hue, almost the color of moss. Each of them appears just large enough to cover the skinny, rectangular windows they protect.

Once again, all of them the same.

And now, to myself. I am Special Operative Silver Lining, dispatched by my superior officer, Lieutenant 1st Class Flash Sentry, to scout out the far reaches of Equestria. I am a paste-white, fully-grown earth Pony male, measuring six feet long from tip of nuzzle to tip of my silver tail and five feet ten-and-a-half inches from base of hoof to top of ears. In my awakening from unconsciousness, I found this solitary tape recorder, no doubt manufactured by Stallion Stereophonics. This could come in handy to recount the days I spend in this peculiar place. I have not laid eyes on my captors, nor have I seen any other form of life.

I know not what awaits me in these days, but I know this: it will surely be unpleasant.


	2. Day 2

I was awoken by the opening of the lock on the door. It swung open with a creak and in stepped a unicorn. She said that her name was Starlight Glimmer, and she stated that she was more or less the pony that kept this village running. She asked me if I wanted to take a look around. Wondering if there were any distinguishable landmarks that I failed to see from my small prison, I accepted the offer.

Walking down the central street, my suspicions were confirmed: the side of the street that I could see was an exact mirror image from the side where I resided. If that wasn't enough, the inhabitants all acted quite strangely. Each of them had a gigantic smile on their face as each of them welcomed me into this town. Feigning acceptance, I endeavored to smile as wide as they were, but found myself unable to carry out that charade for more than two minutes due to the fact that my jaw actually began to physically hurt.

As we strolled down the only place fit to be called a "street," I began to notice something about the ponies in the town: all of them had the exact same cutie mark – a black equal sign. I was sure to make a mental note of that. How odd. I questioned her about it, but she just dismissed it as everypony being the same status as everypony else. So I inquired about what their special talents were to which she replied that these ponies had none. Moreover, the ponies here got rid of their cutie marks willingly because being different was too much of a burden to bare.

No special talents? The exact same cutie mark? A burden to be different? "Heresy!" I shouted. "Blasphemy, even! Everypony is born with his or her special talent. Nopony could possibly give away their identity that easily!" I made it very clear that I wanted nothing to do with this heretical practice and demanded that she let me go at once.

She just… stared at me. With a look of amusement.

"There's no choice in the matter. Besides, you're already one of us."

She pointed to my flank and I turned around. What I saw confirmed my deepest fears.

For on my flank… was a black equal sign.


End file.
